Sly Stone, the ultra-talented and ultra-eccentric frontman of the influential, multiracial soul/funk/rock group Sly and the Family Stone, celebrates his 81st birthday on March 15, 2024.
Videos by American Songwriter
Born Sylvester Stewart, Stone wrote, produced and arranged nearly every track the Bay Area group recorded, while also serving as the band’s lead singer and keyboardist. The Family Stone also featured Sly’s brother Freddie on vocals and guitar and sister Rose on vocals and keyboards.
[RELATED: The Elusive Sly Stone to Release Memoir Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)]
From 1967 through 1974, Sly and the Family Stone scored 10 Top-40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Earlier in his career, Sly had established himself as a popular radio DJ.
Unfortunately, drug abuse and apparent mental health issues derailed Stone’s career, and he’s only recorded and performed sporadically during the last 40 or so years.
Here are five fascinating facts about Stone:
Stone Produced Records for Several Notable Artists During the Mid-’60s
In 1964, Stone co-wrote and produced a song called “C’Mon and Swim” for the veteran R&B/soul singer Bobby Freeman. The tune reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
He also produced the first two albums by The Beau Brummels, a Beatles-influenced band who scored a No. 15 hit in late 1964 with “Laugh, Laugh” and a No. 8 single in early ’65 with “Just a Little.”
Stone’s other production credits included recordings by Grace Slick’s pre-Jefferson Airplane band The Great Society, The Charlatans, and the Charlatans, and The Mojo Men.
Sly and the Family Stone Had Three No. 1 Hits
Sly and the Family Stone’s run of successful hits included three singles that topped the Billboard Hot 100. “Everyday People” spent four weeks at No. 1 in February and March of 1969. The two-sided single of “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’ and “Everybody Is a Star” topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in February 1970. The group’s last chart-topper was “Family Affair,” which spent three weeks at No. 1 in December 1971.
The band’s other hits included “Dance to the Music,” “Stand!,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “I Want to Take You Higher,” and “If You Want Me to Say.”
Sly Stone’s 1974 Wedding Was a Spectacle
On June 5, 1974, Stone married model-actress Kathy Silva at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The sold-out event featured the bride and groom dressed in gold lame outfits designed by Halston, an opening performance by former Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks, and a five-song headlining set by Sly and the Family Stone.
Stone reportedly had wanted the event to also feature a laser-light show, someone dressed as an angel flying on wires over the crowd and dropping gold glitter, and thousands of doves to be released into the arena, but all these plans fell through.
The clergyman who performed the ceremony, Bishop B. R. Stewart, had flown in from San Francisco for the event. As it turned out, he wasn’t registered in New York, so he had to go to the New York City clerk afterward to have his paperwork put through so the marriage would be considered legit.
Stone and Silva wound up getting divorced in 1976.
Sly and the Family Stone Were Inducted into the Rock Hall in 1993
Stone and his famous band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on January 12, 1993, at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
George Clinton inducted the band. Making a rare public appearance, Sly gave a brief speech, saying, “I don’t want to forget … anybody, saying thanks. … So, thank you all very much. I love you personally very much, and see you soon.”
Sly Made a Bizarre Appearance During a 2006 Grammy Salute
The 2006 Grammy Awards featured a special all-star salute to Sly and the Family Stone. Stone had agreed to take part in the tribute, which featured most of the band’s original lineup.
The salute featured a medley of Sly and the Family Stone hits that included performances by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, John Legend, Fantasia, Maroon 5, Ciara, Robert Randolph, Joss Stone, and will.i.am.
Near the end of the performance, Stone sauntered onto the stage donning a huge white mohawk hairstyle, and wearing a shiny silver jacket. He began playing keyboards and singing “I Want to Take You Higher,” but his vocals were hard to hear.
He eventually walked to the front of the stage with a microphone and sang another line or two, then waved to the audience and walked off before the performance had ended.
This marked the first time Stone had performed in public since 1987.
